{"id":3055,"date":"2015-03-01T11:54:45","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T16:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/preserving\/?p=3055"},"modified":"2015-03-09T11:17:13","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T15:17:13","slug":"treadmills-for-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/2015\/03\/01\/treadmills-for-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"Treadmills for Prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To some people, the thought of hitting\u00a0the exercise treadmill every day would be a cruel and unusual punishment. Ironically, this response is much closer to the the truth than might be expected. The actual invention of the treadmill, in 1818, by the Englishman William Cubit was meant for use in prisons as a correctional tool. Concerned that\u00a0prisoners were too idle, he engineered\u00a0mechanical treadmill systems that would enforce daily\u00a0activity as well produce useful work. Cubitt’s treadmills, or “tread-wheels”, required\u00a0the prisoner to continually\u00a0step upwards upon a rotating wooden cylinder or within a wheel-like form, not unlike a hamster on an exercise wheel. Prisoners would\u00a0hold onto a horizontal handrail for stability. These treadmills became very popular in Victorian England\u00a0with larger models developed to accommodate several prisoners side by side for upwards of 10\u00a0hours per day (the equivalent of climbing a 12,000 ft mountain). While the initial\u00a0intent for the treadmill\u00a0was punishment, and it was often used solely for that purpose, it also became a standard way to grind grain or pump water for the prison facility. Somewhat\u00a0popular in America, correctional facilities\u00a0gradually stopped using the treadmill in favor of even more severe “hard labor” options, such as breaking rocks, clearing swamps, or bricklaying. Eventually, even England\u00a0abandoned the treadmill at the end of the 19th century as too cruel.<\/p>\n

“I have to certify to\u00a0<\/span>the court, that the Tread-mill has been in full operation<\/span>
\u00a0ever since the last Midsummer Sessions, and on an average from<\/span>
\u00a0seventy-five to eighty prisoners have been daily employed on the Wheels,\u00a0<\/span>
the proportion of females being very\u00a0small, not amounting to more than ten\u00a0<\/span>
or twelve at any time, and generally\u00a0not exceeding six or eight. The male\u00a0<\/span>
prisoners, when at work, are three fourths\u00a0on the Wheels, and one-fourth\u00a0<\/span>
at rest; the females, one half on the\u00a0Wheel, and the other half at rest;<\/span>
\u00a0and during the six months the Mill has been at work, I have never heard\u00a0<\/span>
of one prisoner, male or female, receiving any\u00a0injury, either in their limbs\u00a0<\/span>
or general health, and as far as I am capable of\u00a0forming a judgment, I consider the labour at the Tread-mill not as injurious,\u00a0but conducive to the health of the prisoners.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A cross section of the treadmill showing the handles<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

“If any prisoner or prisoners are observed to be talking while\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
on the Tread-wheel, they are deprived of their next turn for\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
rest. Two officers are in constant attendance at the time”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A listing of dietaries for the prisoners at English prisons<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

For the Horsley House of Correction the daily intake was —<\/em>
“One pound and a half of bread, one pint\u00a0and a half of gruel, and one pound and a half of potatoes per day”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n
<\/dt>\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, England). Description of the tread mill for the employment of prisoners :with observations on its management. London : Printed by T. Bensley, 1823<\/span>.<\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:14023484<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n
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<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To some people, the thought of hitting\u00a0the exercise treadmill every day would be a cruel and unusual punishment. Ironically, this response is much closer to the the truth than might be expected. The actual invention of the treadmill, in 1818, by the Englishman William Cubit was meant for use in prisons as a correctional tool. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3055"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3135,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055\/revisions\/3135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}